News

posted on 04 April 2008 11:31

It is reported that Hynix Semiconductor is licensing spin-transfer torque random access memory (STT-RAM) technology from Grandis to help build next-generation non-volatile memory chips.

Flash chips are non-volatile memory chips. Hynix says that as manufacturing dies shrink past 40nm, current flash technology designs can't readily shrink with them. Contrary to storage capacity which is on a constant scaling up trend, chip manufacturing is looking to scale down to get more chips from a wafer and gain other advantages.

Grandis claims that spintronics or STT-RAM combines the capacity and cost benefits of DRAM, the fast read and write performance of SRAM, and the non-volatility of Flash, coupled with essentially unlimited endurance. It also has an outstanding ability to scale down past 40nm and will help produce more chips per wafer and lower cost per die. Such chips will consume less power than current flash chips.

Sung Wook Park, head of the R&D division at Hynix, said: “Grandis is leading in STT-RAM technology and has a broad portfolio of fundamental patents in this area. Through this partnership with Grandis, we look forward to integrating leading-edge STT-RAM technology into our semiconductor manufacturing processes and to a new era in memory capability.”

Dr. Yiming Huai, VP engineering and CTO of Grandis, said: “STT-RAM is a disruptive technology that combines all the benefits of SRAM, DRAM and Flash memory, as well as offering scalability to future process nodes. Our recent advances in magnetic materials have significantly lowered write current and opened up new markets for STT-RAM. We are excited to partner with Hynix, a world leader in DRAM, in developing STT-RAM memory products and accelerating their time to market with our leading STT-RAM technology.”

Both companies will work together to build the STT-RAM chips.

Numonyx, the Intel and STMicroelectronics joint venture, is promoting Phase Change Memory (PCM) as its technology candidate for flash memory development, and giving out similar claims that it combines DRAM and flash attributes.

^{[Paul Roberts, news editor.]}